My Home: Before and After Photos

So I got the keys to my flat in September 2017 (which already feels like forever ago) and today I came across the original estate agent photos of the place, and I was so surprised by how different it looks now! These are the photos that were on RightMove and I remember when I first saw it I thought it looked okay but perhaps little bit small and in need of a make over, but other than that seemed suitable.

The flat was the first (and only!) viewing that I did and although the online photos didn’t do the place much justice, when I had my first viewing I managed to see past the tenants bulky furniture and I could picture the rooms as my own. So I thought I would share the photos with you so you could see how the place looked when I was handed the keys compared to how it looks now, and I can look back on this post in future to remind myself what it was like!

The Kitchen

Before

After

The kitchen is the room that has changed the least as nothing big really needed doing. All it needed was a good clean and other than that it’s been left as it originally was. I would absolutely love to change the grey speckled tiles at some point as I hate them, but they will do for now! I quite like the glossy white cupboards and the oven and washing machine which were left were brand new which was handy. The kitchen is the perfect size for me and there’s plenty of storage space including a full length cupboard which hides the fridge! If you’d like to see the full room tour of my kitchen you can read my earlier blog post here.

The Living Room

Before

After

The living room is probably my favourite room transformation! When I came to view the flat the living room was full of huge pieces of furniture including a massive black leather sofa which practically took up the whole room. There was also a huge big black TV unit and widescreen TV which was covering up the balcony window blocking the light AND a large black rug on the carpet! So overall the living room looked small, dark, uninviting and I wasn’t very keen! But luckily I could (just about) see past all the horrible furniture and I imagined how I would try to brighten the place up a bit. Once I moved in I put up a feature wall of pretty duck egg blue wallpaper and found a place for all of my (normal sized) furniture which left much more space and the place instantly looked lighter and bigger. You can see my full living room tour here.

The Dining Room

Before

After

I call it the dining room but technically it’s just the other half of the living room nearest to the kitchen! Again, on viewing the flat the furniture was just totally inappropriate for the size of the room. It had a big black circular glass dining room table on one side of the room along with two big leather dining chairs which didn’t fit underneath the table so stuck out. Then on the other side of the room was a big black leather lounger chair and footstool taking up space which again looked a bit odd and was kind of in the way. When I moved in I put a better fitting dining table in the corner and then used the other corner for big storage unit filled with all my pretty things! See the full room tour here.

The Bedroom

Before

After

The bedroom was just laid out so weirdly and when I viewed it that I was put off the whole place because the bedroom looked so tiny and squashed! When I walked in the door banged off the huge desk which was to the left which did not fit in the gap at all and was forced into the space. On the other side of the door was an enormous wardrobe which again was too deep for the space so jutted out not leaving much space. Plus, the massive bed was really low down on the floor which made the room look a bit weird and there was no other furniture in the room. I was worried where I’d put my chest of drawers, but once I moved my stuff in, there was space for my drawers as well as my king size bed, two bedside tables, a triple wardrobe, shoe cupboard, and a dressing table! To see more photos of the bedroom check out my room tour here.

The Bathroom

Before

After

The bathroom is nothing special but when I first moved in it was painted a weird shade of yellow (although it looks cream in the photo it was much more orange!) and it was generally in need of a good refresh. The first thing I did was paint the walls with white paint, gave everything a good clean, and my Dad resealed the bath so it was all nice and fresh. He also put up a cabinet on the wall, added some mirrors and accessories, and also changed the sink taps and shower fitting so that as much as possible was new without having to get a whole new bathroom suite.

As the floor was already the grey colour I decided to match all the decorative bits to the it so the theme in this room is grey and marble. I found some little marble shelves and a marble print mirror in B&M which have also gone up on the wall, and I found the matching marble soap dispenser and tumblers in Matalan. As the whole wall of the bath for some reason isn’t tiled, I decided to try covering the bare bit of wall in sticky back marble plastic! I wasn’t sure how long this would last as it was kind of a temporary fix, but it’s actually been perfectly fine since fitting it in October and is still 100% stuck and also waterproof! It was such a good solution and I actually really like it! I haven’t done a room tour on the bathroom yet but it’s coming soon!